Tamas Dobozy wins Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for Siege 13

Tamas Dobozy captured the second leg of the fall’s literary awards circuit Wednesday evening, winning the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for his short story collection Siege 13.

Spanning from the Siege of Budapest, one of the bloodiest campaigns of the Second World War, to present-day Toronto, Siege 13 is the 43-year-old Dobozy’s third collection of stories. This marks the first major prize of his career.

“It’s been such a long journey,” he said in an interview after the ceremony. “It’s like getting to the end of a marathon and feeling like you’re ready to collapse — [that’s] kind of how I feel a little bit. But, of course, you’ve made it.”

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In their citation, the jury of Esi Edugyan, Lynn Coady and Drew Hayden Taylor said Siege 13 “spans continents and decades, and in doing so illustrates once again that old maxim: The short story can be both as broad and as deep as a novel. These stories are never less than breathtaking.”

Nino Ricci was honoured with the $25,000 Engel/Findley Award, which is given to an author in mid-career. The 53-year-old author’s five novels include Lives of the Saints and The Origin of Species, which both won the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction.

“When I think of mid-career, I tend to think of it as a difficult place,” Ricci said. “It may be partly a function of what the writing world is like at the moment. Or it may just be the inevitable age-old dilemma of being a writer — that yes, you have achieved a certain amount of recognition, but what seemed easy obstacles when you were 30 seem less pleasant when you’re 50, or 55. You have children in university that you’re supporting. You can’t live on the shoestring you once did. And yet you’re still a writer facing the same kinds of economic difficulties, facing the same blank page, facing the same doubts and problems that you had at the outset. It doesn’t get any easier.”

Children’s author Jean Little, whose books include From Anna and Mine for Keeps, was the recipient of this year’s $20,000 Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of a Writing Life. The jury called her “a pioneer Canadian author, standing almost alone as a major, internationally recognized Canadian children’s author.”

Paul Yee, whose young adult novels include the Governor General’s Literary Award-winning Ghost Train, was named the winner of the $20,000 Vicky Metcalf Award for children’s literature.

Finally, Alex Pugsley won the $10,000 Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize, often considered a career launching pad, for his story “Crisis on Earth-X,” from The Dalhousie Review, which receives $2,000 for publishing the winning story. The runners-up were Andrew Hood and Kevin Hardcastle.

In total, $114,000 in prize money was awarded at the ceremony, which was held in Toronto and hosted by CBC broadcaster Shelagh Rogers.

There is one Writers’ Trust of Canada award yet to come; the winner of the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize will be announced Nov. 12.